Morals contribute to the process of thinking and committing actions. After 1600, Shakespeare wrote tragedies that “present vivid impressions of human temperament that are timeless and universal”(William Shakespeare Biography). Looking from a moral criticism perspective, Shakespeare 's King Lear breaks many morals that today’s society values, such as a family’s love. King Lear, the retiring king, corrupts his family love by hosting a contest on which daughter loves him the most. This contest will decide who gets which part of his kingdom. Goneril and Regan, his eldest daughters, confirm their love for him. Cordelia, his youngest, believes actions speak louder than words,so refuses to express her love for him, which infuriates him. Breaking these valued morals lead to madness that encompasses the characters’ minds and “eliminates all rational thoughts” (Bali). In Shakespeare’s King Lear, blindness results in misjudgments, leaving the person to decide to either change for the better or allow greed to overrule.
As the play progresses, the characters’ actions portray how misjudgments influence them to choose a destructive path. Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester, Regan, and Goneril, the daughters of King Lear, use these misjudgments for their personal self gain. Edmund desires …show more content…
His son, Edmund, plots to steal his power and land from him. Gloucester 's blindness leads him to disowning his other son, Edgar, and believing he has “ grown so vile/ That it doth hate what gets it” (3.4.134-136). Realizing similarity between his and King Lear’s situation, Gloucester believes disowning this rebellious child, Edgar, will benefit him. Consequently, favoring Edmund, Gloucester is led down a dangerous path. His “[i]initial response to suffering and misfortune is despair and defeat” (Storozynsky). “Desiring only death” (Storozynsky), he feels defeated from mistakes he has made as a
As the play progresses, the characters’ actions portray how misjudgments influence them to choose a destructive path. Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester, Regan, and Goneril, the daughters of King Lear, use these misjudgments for their personal self gain. Edmund desires …show more content…
His son, Edmund, plots to steal his power and land from him. Gloucester 's blindness leads him to disowning his other son, Edgar, and believing he has “ grown so vile/ That it doth hate what gets it” (3.4.134-136). Realizing similarity between his and King Lear’s situation, Gloucester believes disowning this rebellious child, Edgar, will benefit him. Consequently, favoring Edmund, Gloucester is led down a dangerous path. His “[i]initial response to suffering and misfortune is despair and defeat” (Storozynsky). “Desiring only death” (Storozynsky), he feels defeated from mistakes he has made as a